15 Things you didn't know about Channing Tatum

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Hard-working kung fu-fighting Southerner

Channing Tatum is not too hard on the ocular cavities, but it turns out there's more to this talented guy than meets the eye.

Photo credit: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic/Getty image

Let's face it, we all love Channing Tatum. There's not much to not love about this leading man, right? We took a closer look at this family man and found that he might give the Dos Equis guy a run for his money in the "most interesting man in the world" category.

1. Shaking his way into fame wasn't so glamorous

His first dancing gig was for Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" video, and he got paid $400 for a seven-day shoot, according to IMDb.

2. So close, and yet not at all

Tatum worked in the Steven Spielberg movie War of the Worlds, but the scene where he played a church boy ended up on the cutting room floor.

3. He's no mutant

The 21 Jump Street star auditioned for the role of Gambit in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, but he didn't get the part because the character was eventually written out of the movie. It's rumored that he would still like to play the role.

4. Born on the bayou

Well he wasn't born on one, but he was born in a small Alabama town and moved to a Mississippi bayou when he was just 6 years old and spent most of his childhood there. It was here he became an amateur exterminator — only he didn’t spray for termites. He once had to catch an alligator because it had gotten "too big."

5. Favorite vacation destination

Tatum, who is the voice of Superman in The LEGO® Movie, is a country boy at heart. His favorite place to visit is his Uncle Bruce’s ranch in Wetumpka, Alabama where his mother grew up.

6. American classic

His favorite movie growing up was The Goonies. How excited do you think he is about the prospect of a sequel?

7. He died and lived to tell the tale

In September 2012, Twitter lit up with the news that Tatum had died in a snowboarding accident in Switzerland. Fans were relieved when the story turned out to be a hoax.

8. Don't be fooled by his swagger

He's humiliated by his Step Up audition and said he "hopes it never sees the light of day," in an interview with About.com.

9. Magic Tatum

Magic Mike was loosely based on the actor's life. It turns out he really was a roofer who moonlighted as a stripper at a local club, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. His stage name was Chan Crawford and he later moved to Miami where he was discovered by a modeling scout.

10 What a clown

Tatum was a real clown back in his stripping days. He wore a clown costume and stripped to "99 Balloons" one night at the strip club. Needless to say, the ladies were not feeling it. (Most of us are scared of clowns, not turned on by them.)

11. He's a fighter

Tatum has practiced the art of kung fu, Wuzuquan kung fu, more specifically, according to the New YorkDaily News. As a child, he trained under 10th dan Grandmaster, Chee Kim Thong.

12. And a hard worker

Not only does he dance and act, but Tatum is a budding businessman as well. He started two production companies, 33andOut Productions and Iron Horse Entertainment, with his wife, Jenna Dewan, and his friend, Brett Rodriguez, according to channingtatumunwrapped.com. Their first production was a documentary on Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, and genocide survivor, Jean-Pierre Sagahutu, titled EarthMade of Glass.

13. Being a kid wasn't easy

He battled ADHD and dyslexia while growing up. "I wasn't very good in school, I have dyslexia so I wasn't able to read like other kids," he told Italian Vogue. "After a period of taking drugs to improve my learning I started feeling depressed and thought a lot about suicide. So, after a couple years I said enough, no more pills."

14 School's not for everyone

Tatum never went to acting school, and dropped out of college shortly after receiving a full athletic football scholarship at Glenville State College in West Virginia.

15 Not on the cutting room floor anymore

In the June issue of GQ, Steven Soderbergh — Tatum's Magic Mike director — brags about our favorite on-screen stripper. "You know, the guy had three movies do $100 million in six months— nobody's ever done that." (These movies were Magic Mike, The Vow and 21 Jump Street.) With all the epic blockbuster flops the movie industry has seen lately, we're starting to wonder if Tatum really is magic.